The Pros And Cons Of Releasing A ‘Surprise’ Album

News

By: Chris Yuscavage/ February 26, 2014

At approximately 9 p.m. on Monday, Kid Cudi took to his Twitter account and told his fans that he had a big surprise for them. His fourth album, Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon, was finished, and he wanted to share it with the world. So he released it through iTunes at midnight.

Cudi’s approach wasn’t totally without precedent, of course. In December, Beyoncé dropped her fifth solo album the same way—on iTunes at midnight without warning. And we imagine other artists will use this approach moving forward, too. After all, both Beyoncé and Cudi soared to the top of the iTunes charts shortly after their projects were released.

Before this turns into a full-fledged trend, though, we think that artists need to remember that this method of releasing music is not for everyone. While it can be very effective for some, it could also be a huge fail—and potentially end your career—if you don’t execute the release properly.